iPhone 6 vs. iPhone 6 Plus vs. HTC One M8: Which one should you buy? (Updated)

Camera: iPhone 6 vs. iPhone 6 Plus vs. HTC One M8

While the comparisons have been pretty even so far, one area that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will pull ahead of the HTC One M8 — and probably every other Android phone — is the camera. Apple has always made good cameras, and it seems the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will be no different.

Apple says there’s a brand new “iSight” sensor in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, rocking 8 megapixels, with “focus pixels” (Apple’s wording) that perform phase-detection autofocus. The iPhone 6 Plus also has optical image stabilization, for additional sharpness and low-light image quality. Early hands-on impressions are that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus cameras are very good.

Backside of the iPhone 6 (right) and HTC One M8, showing the respective cameras. Note the HTC One M8 has an additional depth sensor.

The One M8 camera’s pixels are larger (2.0µ vs. 1.5µ), and the One M8 does have some interesting features that the iPhones don’t have (such as a depth sensor for 3D images). For some reason though, the color reproduction from the One M8’s camera just isn’t very good, and highly sporadic. The Galaxy S5 does have phase-detection autofocus, but again the camera can return some questionable image quality.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus introduce some new video capture features, too, that the One M8 can’t match, such as 240 fps slow-mo mode and continuous autofocus (and face detection). The front FaceTime camera on the iPhones sounds like it’s superior to anything offered the the HTC One M8 or other Android smartphones, too.

If you’re specifically looking for a smartphone with a good camera, we’d suggest you go for the iPhone 6 or 6 Plus. Even though the iPhone 6 Plus looks a bit like an iPad Mini, we urge you not to get a tablet and then take photos while holding it in the air.

As always, it is almost impossible to fault the design of the iPhone 6. It’s beautiful.

Design, software, pricing, and conclusion

So far, then, unless you specifically want to try out Apple Pay, you want an excellent camera, or you’re preparing to buy the Apple Watch, all three phones are pretty evenly matched.

Pricing-wise, both the HTC One M8 and iPhone 6 start at $200 on-contract. The iPhone 6 Plus starts at $300 on-contract — most likely the same as the Galaxy Note 4. The two iPhones go up to $400 and $500 respectively if you want the 128GB model.

Design-wise, it’s obviously a matter of taste. According to hands-on reports it definitely sounds like the thinness of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus makes them feel smaller and less unwieldy than other large-screen smartphones and phablets. Personally, I would go into your local retailer and try holding the iPhone 6, HTC One M8, and iPhone 6 Plus to see which one feels best in your hand. The HTC One M8, with its metal body, certainly feels good in the hand, but it’s significantly thicker than both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Software-wise, it’s down to personal taste. A lot of nice tweaks are coming down the line in iOS 8, especially for health and fitness tracking, and the aforementioned Apple Pay mobile wallet. Android has its perks too, though. If you’re trying to choose between them, I recommend reading our detailed comparison of iOS 8 and Android 4.4.

For your money, I would say the HTC One M8 is better value than the iPhone 6 — unless you have a specific reason to go for the iPhone. The Note 4 probably beats out the iPhone 6 Plus in terms of pure specs — but unless you specifically want the Note for its stylus and other interesting features, I have a feeling that the iPhone 6 Plus, with its iPad Mini-like tweaks, will be a pleasure to use.

Tagged In

I expected something special from apple, but Apple unable to impress me. Why would I buy a 2012 standards phone with an insanely high price. I’m waiting for the HTC M9 and Galaxy S6. I hope to buy a phone in the next year among one of them. No phone for me in this year.

http://www.mrseb.co.uk/ Sebastian Anthony

Well, I expect this will perform just as well as any Android phone. And the design is top-notch (IMO), with no Android phone coming anywhere close.
It’s a bit disappointing to see low-resolution screens, though.

Just Awesome

The iPhone 6 (4.7″) quite disappointed me. I don’t like larger phablet phones. Therefore, iPhone 6 Plus will never match for me. The iPhone 6 Plus even bigger than Note 4. Appple always designs the best chip each year and iPhones have the best hardware, there is no doubt about it.

If iPhone 6 has a 1080p display, I could have thought about it. Seriously, I don’t know why Apple made two iPhone 6 versions. There is no any major difference from iPhone 6 to iPhone 6 plus. Just a larger 1080p display, OIS and landscape mode. If I need to buy a 5.5″ phablet, I would rather buy a Note 4.

Apple should have made a one iPhone 6 version with 1080p 5″ display and include all the features into it rather than limiting the user experience by one to another version. Then I could have thought about buying an iPhone 6.

Is HTC M8 has a s801 SoC chip? I thought its a 32 bit chip.

neo905

HTC 32 bit. However 64 bit can’t be utilized until Apple does better than 1gb of ram. The reality is the iPhone 4.7″ would be a mid range phone in the market and half the price if there wasn’t an Apple logo on it. There us no longer a strong value proposition with the iPhone at all.

Mo Friedrich

Why won’t anybody understand that 64bit means more than just the possibility to use more RAM?
64 bit processors can calculate much longer numbers, deliver much more bandwidth and an advanced instruction set.
In short, optimized 64bit-apps are way more efficient.
That the iPhone works great with 1GB of RAM is due to the specific optimization of iOS for the hardware, something Android will never achieve as it’s built for a broad hardware base.
So you can’t really determine the performance of an iOS device by the system memory.

neo905

This is a great esoteric discussion that only 5% of the population will be able to wrap their heads around what it will means in material terms in their day to day use. If I say it is waterproof, which the iPhone isn’t by the way, people instantly understand how that is useful. Only nerds and geeks can wax poetic on the subtle nuances of 64 bit architecture. If you have to explain a feature and it takes a paragraph to explain it benefits to someone and they still may stare blankly at you. You are probably making a bigger deal about it than it is.

Ujwal Kidambi

If your phone is waterproof, it doesnt mean that you simply drop it in water everyday

neo905

Thanks for stating the obvious.

Ujwal Kidambi

welcome

Chase Masters

I’d still take more ram for both really. If you have a 32 bit application and a 64 bit application that do the exact same thing which version has a larger memory footprint?

Tim Tian

64 bit one, to state the obvious.

Jake

There is a world difference between 32 and 64bit for example, when doing integral image for pattern recognition.
You can’t simply compare aarch64 *ISA* to x86_64 *extension*. The new ISA with four times the capacity in architectural registers makes the difference.

heisenbergeler

I disagree with that, one thing everyone seems never to bring up is the resale price of the iphone vs any other phone. Irrespective of opinions on OS or phone type, I just sold my 64 gb iphone 5 which is 2 years old for $350 on amazon in about 2 days from posting when I paid $299 for it brand new. Then I preordered the iphone 6 64gb for $299. I did the same thing when going from iphone 4 to 5. When I had android (which has since gotten a heck of a lot better) there was no way I could get anything for it let alone enough to let me buy a new phone and still have $50 extra bucks. You wouldnt buy a new car or a house with a crappy/nonexistent resale value so why should you an expensive piece of tech?

DrPlokta

You didn’t pay $299 for your iPhone 5 — you paid at least twice that, just a lot of the cost was spread over the life of your contract rather than being an up-front cost. If you want to know what a phone really costs, look at the contract-free price.

heisenbergeler

I see what you are trying to do there, but no. Whether I got a $199 LG G3 or the iPhone 6 I would have paid the same for my contract renewal. I understand that phones are subsidized on pretty much all of the big networks but how they choose to pay for each is of no concern to me and doesn’t effect me at all year to year. So given how the contract price is a relatively set value, I paid $299 for my iPhone 5 and received $350 after two years of use. Hence I gained money. If you bought the LG G3 for example today and tried to sell it in 2 years, you would be hard pressed to sell it let alone make money off of it. I had an android and tried selling it the same way I did this… it is still in my drawer. It could possibly be argued that all, lets say, Verizon customers (android users included) are sharing the burden of paying for the insanely expensive iPhone price difference due to subsidies because in comparison after subsidies are done, Android phones cost less than apple (in general).

Maverick Guy

I do feel you bro, I really like the 4.7″ form factor. But for some odd reason Apple () decided to cut certain features from what we already know to be the volume seller.

The 4.7″ version will be perfect for most people. But I wish they didn’t segment features to force buyers’ hands that don’t wont a phablet (optical stabilization comes to mind).

I agree that if all the same features had been included on the 4.7″ 6, I’d have happily gone for it. Guess I’ll give this phablet thing a try.

DDroid45

With no android phone coming close in design!!!!!!!!!

http://www.mrseb.co.uk/ Sebastian Anthony

I own an HTC One M8! It’s my daily phone :)

DDroid45

Mine too, that’s y I had to disagree with what u said about iPhone completely beating out android in terms of design

http://www.mrseb.co.uk/ Sebastian Anthony

I think the HTC One M8 is very nice — and the nicest Android phone I’ve used. But I think the iPhone 6 will be lighter, thinner, better machined/designed — and so on.

I could be wrong :) But just going on the hands-on impressions that I’ve seen so far.

DDroid45

I just don’t think being lighter and thinner have anything to do with the beautiful of a phone, but like I replied to someone else I would hope Apple can make a phone smaller and thinner, they don’t have dual cameras and dual speakers…nor expandable storage…heck if I didn’t add great great speccs and features like that, I’ll make a thin ass phone too lol

Ujwal Kidambi

Then i dont think there is any damned nessacity for any features of android. every feature counts

Phakey Prophile

Apple always seems to lead the way in design, but they’re almost always bettered by the more open world imo. I would have liked more comparison with the G3. (btw the LG G3 has an 801 not 805). It also has 3GB ram and an SD
slot supporting 2TB? (according to their site). And a waaay denser ppi of 538 – you need a loupe to see them. A bigger battery than the HTC at 3000 mAh (but battery size is subjective imo) and a very thin feel to the phone. And it doesn’t have a metro looking ui which is plus in my book.

Romdude

Probably true but the Iphone 6 has just been released, hopefully the newer HTC One M9 will come out and improve its design too.

Antoine de Champlain

Me too!! Came from an iPhone 5S that was given to me for about 2 months and before that my iPod Touch 5 which I used since it was released. Although I fell some amazing app from the app store are missing on the play store I really can’t complain about switching !

However there’s two things I didn’t agree with in your comparaison. First the battery life , I find the M8 battery life outstanding compared to what an iPhone 5S(which has about the same battery life of the 6) delivers you with my daily use. Also I don’t see how the thicker M8 really is harder to grasp compare to the new iPhone.. I find the M8 much more comfortable to hold than my previous iPod touch 5.

Shane Andrew Gillespie

It actually looks more like a stretched iPod touch, Apple didn’t steal any design decisions as far as I can see. As for comparing the HTC One, until you can hold the iPhone 6 in your hand you can’t really compare the two. Apple typically excels at making a product that feels great in the hand, and has far more experience at this than HTC. It’ll be interesting.

DDroid45

Of course you can compare, just look at it, they both all metal, they both have round curves, they just different by like a couple of millimeters in thickness….millimeters bruh, that’s nothing lol, plus I would hope Apple can make a phone smaller and thinner, they don’t have dual cameras and dual speakers…nor expandable storage…heck if I didn’t add great great speccs and features like that, I’ll make a thin ass phone too lol

Don Jackson II

No IR Blaster either I use that everyday to control my HiFi…

will1105

dude HTC made phones waaay before apple did.. sorry

Mario

Even so the i6 looks very similar to the M8, very.

Alan Wang

I would disagree because I’ve held both phones for a bit and I still like the curved back better. Also, design doesn’t just mean weight, thickness and shape. You need to factor in the speaker position, which is far superior on the M8

neonix

No Android phone comes close? Xperia Z2, and the new Z3, nuff said.

Don Jackson II

Oh, you mean the design Apple clearly stole from the HTC One m8… laughable comment at least.

Sammy

Rather it was HTC that copied Apple’s design philosophy. Like it or not Apple always set the standard for others to follow.

serg

the standard of small screen ,short battery and softy metal cheap`case, face it and look for a shrink apple has acepted big screens from sasmung are th way to go,big breaktru apple invented the large screen, hooray in the unicorn land, will you be able to get laid for the first time with your shiny i6 or your coarse hairy palms will keep scratching the iphone case?

Sammy

Why is it that all the oversized house wife’s love the big chunky androids ?

Marcus Ray

Wrong. They’ve stolen so much from Android, I’ve lost count. They’ve always made nice hardware but HTC has caught up and even passed them up in some areas.

Ujwal Kidambi

like i said, android was made by copying ios

Jacob Freely

I don’t think the iPhone 6 looks anything like the HTC One m8. I think the m8 looks really nice and the iPhone 6 looks hideous to me. I’ve had an iPhone since the first gen but I’ve been thinking of switching just because of how much I hate the looks of this phone. I’m not sure I’d get this even if it was hands down the most incredible phone ever invented. I just hate the way it looks that much.

Whocares

The look is unchanged from the front. If you see the back when you use it, you hold it wrong

Jacob Freely

lol I suppose that’s true but that won’t help when I pick it up off my night stand every morning… Like waking up to realize you took home the ugliest chick at the bar.

Dan

That’s an odd and very specific line of reasoning you’ve created.

Jacob Freely

It’s just one example of how I will in fact see more than just the front of it every single day. The rest of what it looks like does need to be appealing to me.

Marcus Ray

Well, it wasn’t too long ago that there was news of Apple trying to pry HTC engineers from HTC. Hmmmmm………

avq

It will specifically perform about as good as an LG Nexus 4 (released in 2012). They have roughly the same specs. Go ahead and compare for yourself.

Cory

The design is the same as the HTC One so no android phone comes close in design? Are you stupid.

Alan Wang

Saying that no Android phone has a design coming anywhere close to the iPhone 6 is irrational.. It is essentially the same basic design as the M8 but without the curved back and front facing speakers. IMO front facing speakers and a curved back are better than down-firing speakers and a flat back with a protruding camera in the corner.

Jacob Freely

Did you expect some other price for the iPhone 6 (4.7″)? It’s literally the same contract price as every other previous iPhone. New price that is not the clearance price.

That said, am I the only one that thinks the design is ugly? I think this thing is hideous with the huge lines and protruding camera. I get the impression I might be in the minority on this.

eddie davis

can’t agree more. that keynote was bit disappointing.
perhaps i expected too much from them though.

Sam_88

Well said, completely agree. Check the performance specs also, the 801 is faster than the A8 processor. What is their niche except great marketing?

sameer somu

I’m sure apple didn’t make the camera as you mentioned. Its most likely a modified Sony exumur sensor that most smartphone makers use. Other than camera, with the slight edge going to the iPhone, m8 should win in all other categories

Whocares

Except overall and performance.

Charles Walker

The HTC will be getting Android L by the end of the year which should be incredible, especially considering that Android is already superior to iOS. Apple will continue to lag 2-4 years behind Android features and technology.

Phil

2-4 years… xD

Whocares

R u dumb? 32 bit hardware run 64 bit OS?

Charles Walker

What are you on about, peasant? 64-bit is not innovation and not even necessary on a phone.

David Onter

You are the one who is stupid <3 It's the same as if you would say, that you cannot install Windows since it's also available in a 64-bit version.

nottoberude

i, sir invite you to get any android phone, as top notch as possible and open a 100 apps on it, keep them minimized, don’t kill them. then repeat the same on an iPhone 6…or even a 5s. use them both…the android will probably be shitting bricks even with your octa-cores and 3+ gigs of ram, and the iphone probably wont give a single flying fuck…oh and with that lowly dual-core and oh-snap, just a gig of ram .
it’s impractical i know, but since u guys absolutely have to fight like piss ants over which has more power, this test gets the job done. :)

David Onter

Yes, because the iPhone cannot keep them in memory anymore when you reach a certain number of Apps (>1GB in this case). It would have to reload them and dump others when you open them up in the multitasking menu. A phone with 1GB of RAM doesn’t have true multitasking :D

Ujwal Kidambi

dude i tried opening only 20 apps on samsung galaxy s5 and they all closed on their own due to overheating issues. did the same on ios and it was still smooth

David Onter

*cought* TouchWiz *cought*

Sammy

Android L. LOL. So can we assume more lag and jittery scrolling with androids ?

Tim Tian

I do not know what you are talking about.

craig calkins

Pretty sure the G3 has a Snapdragon 801. Might want to fix that. I think my biggest dissatisfaction with the new iPhones are the prices. $500 down for a 128gb is extremely high. And then just an 8mp camera? That’s been the norm for too long. It’s enough, but it’s not enough to be able to zoom after taking a picture and get great detail like words. 720p at 4.7 inches? Might as well get like a moto g or S3. 1080p at 5.5 inches? I’d rather get the N4E. More pixels look better, at least to me. And please don’t tell me both I phones have less than 1.5gb of ram, because that just really drops the value. There. Rant over haha

Whocares

1GB of RAM in iOS = 2 GB in Android..so shut up

craig calkins

Actually, Android kit kat can run on a phone with 256mb, so, you shut up.

elixer8062

lol Jimmy Truong. Why are you getting all upset? It’s just a phone.

Tim Tian

1 GB of RAM in iOS is 1 GB of RAM. 1 GB in Android is also 1GB. In iOS the OS uses at least 64 MB, in Android L, you can still run apps with that amount, in your comment there exists no sense.

David Onter

LG G3 is also available with a Snapdragon 805 (The LTE+ version)

Gabby Chen

This stuff is all a waste of money! Why do Americans these days always feel the need to get the latest iCrap? There is barely any difference between the very first iPhone and the latest model. A touch screen phone with internet… WOW!

You shouldn’t be able to complain about the economy or your own personal financial situation if you blow your money on trivial Apple crap.

Many American have a steak taste on a hamburger budget . That’s part of the problem we now face from a long time ago. Barrow to the max and then whine about now having enough money . Nice house , car or truck and boat. Can you afford them or does it really matter at this period of time?

I’m just gonna make smart decisions with my money so I don’t end up with an empty bank account:

1) Paying off my debts as they come to me. Never holding a credit card balance longer than a month. If this means living in a small studio apartment and eating ramen, rice, and beans, so be it.

2) I will always buy small, fuel efficient and durable cars. I drive a 2006 Honda Civic now. It costs me nothing to fill up and next to nothing to insure ($25/month from Insurance Panda… woohoo!). I will not drive when I don’t need to, and use public transportation whenever possible.

3) Developing multiple revenue streams. Doing side jobs. Building up small businesses. Doing contract work. Basically doing whatever I can to generate income from multiple sources.

4) Grow my revenue and assets no matter what. Make sure I am always expanding and develop them to the point that they consistently generate reliable cash flow.

5) The most important one – make as much as I can. Save as much as I can.

Well this contributes to the iphone 6 vs HTC M8 comparison… It is just the way it is. Deal with it. For possesions I simply buy the best; a laptop, a desktop and a smartphone… and thats enough. For the rest of things, I simply get experiences, traveling, going out, meeting people… You look young and pretty, you should not be going to those extremes… better live now than be sorry later when you get old and shitty.

bmwman91

“better live now than be sorry later when you get old and shitty.”

I think that the opposite of this is her point. Living like there is no tomorrow when you are young is fun and all, but you WILL be sorry later on when you have nothing saved and you are past your prime. “Being sorry later” is precisely what people are supposed to try to avoid! Preventing misfortune is a heck of a lot easier than reversing it. It’s one of the first things that parents try to teach their kids, or at least it should be.

A lot of zero- and first-gen Chinese immigrants come to the US and go from nothing to prosperity. Why? Because they know how bad things can be and see how much opportunity there is here. They are willing to sacrifice and put in the hard work to get themselves into better economic circumstances. Granted, after a generation or two their kids are 100% American (culturally) and usually suffer from the same lack of perspective/motivation as other naturally-born Americans, so the
cultural advantage” wears off. Still, the point is that making sacrifices now pays off in folds later on and it is better to trade a little bit of your youth for security and comfort when you are old. You don’t have to trade off all of your good years for money, although some people do (and regret it later), but it is wise to use some restraint now to give yourself options later.

Zunalter

“Steak taste on a hamburger budget” sums up many HUMAN financial issues well enough.

bmwman91

True. People in general are bad at priorities if history is any indicator.

Quenepas

Im not sure how people get to mix living a full life with spending lots of money. I get why you got it the wrong way but the thing is that she puts up some really harsh shit like always looking for money and another job and just chasing money in general and thats a really fucking sad life. I have a good job where 33% of my monthly income pays for rent, utilities, internet, cellphone, food, credit card, etc. PLUS putting in money the savings account.

Would I want to make more money by getting another job? HELL NO! I just hang out with friends, travel, eat good food… I simply LIVE! I dont want to get old thinking “Shit, all I did was work all my life” Google the things people say before they die for more insight

bmwman91

Got it. It’s about balance and I agree there. I too COULD look for a “better” job that pays more, but as it is now I think I have maximized my effective hourly pay rate and it leaves me time to spend with my wife, friends and pursuing hobbies (and pursuing those have actually resulted in big career benefits). At the same time though, you can’t lost sight of the fact that most people are expendable as employees by age 45 and age discrimination is a very real thing in many fields (which is only going to get worse). You can’t rest on your laurels too long because you’ll wake up one day and realize that you are in your 40’s and some younger person can replace you because they can do 75% of your job for 50% of the money. Some amount of strategic planning needs to go into continually growing and making yourself valuable to society/employers. Maybe it doesn’t matter though, since I am fairly sure that “retirement” in the US will come to have the same meaning that it has in most of the rest of the world, where it is synonymous with, “living with your kids and grandkids.”

Ray C

I agree with your first couple lines. I cannot understand why the rise of the mobile market brought in this mentality of replacing a perfectly good device every year or two.

bmwman91

Exactly. Everyone loves “new” things that they believe are “better” than their old things since it gives a sense of accomplishment or progress in life. Marketing hype becomes fact in people’s minds. I think that it is a consequence of having a very high standard of living without any perspective on how much worse it could be. Nobody is happy with what they have anymore, or at least not happy enough with perfectly good stuff to keep it for very long. Sadly, our whole economy is utterly dependent on conspicuous consumption and growth in spending. Growth is an exponential function, and since incomes have not been growing exponentially for most people, debt has been making up the difference. The bill is going to be due at some point, with the debtor being the US and the rest of the world being the collector.

Years ago, after a few business trips to some industrial areas in China, I came to the conclusion that Americans have it so damn good and do nothing but complain about it. The vast majority of Americans have zero clue about how good they have things, and how much less billions of people have despite having to work even harder (with the alternative being starving in the street). I love this country and am extremely grateful for being born here since that on its own put me into an advantageous situation, but the decisions that people are making, bottom to top, are not sustainable and the party is going to end badly at some point. The frustrating part is that it can be fixed, but the willpower is not there for most people, and special interests that care more about their own bottom line than the fate of a nation have infiltrated every level of government.

AlCarn

How refreshing to see a young person with this attitude! Very cool Gabby, you’re absolutely right.

anihilist

6) Waste my time and energy preaching to people who really don’t care about what I have to say.

7) Be condescending and assume that the people on this site aren’t smart enough to sell their current iCrap or Android devices while they still have value and pay next to nothing to stay up to date on the latest and greatest versions.

Did I miss anything?

avq

Your 7th point shows that you clearly missed everything.

Oneandonlyss67

Maybe some of us have good jobs and make good money and can actually afford things like new iPhones and Starbucks without going in debt

avq

Good for you. She wasnt giving Bill Gates financial advice, she was talking to the average middle class and lower income households.

Nate B

Well said Gabby. Although I sometimes spend more than I “should”, for the most part I’m cheap. I learned woman tend to cost an arm and a leg lol.

eddie

Cmon, if you cannot afford them, don’t buy em. Simple.

HiroProtag

Oh god Gabby, cry me a river why don’t you. I’ll tell you what, you spend your money on what you want and I’ll spend my money on what I want, which incidentally isn’t an iPhone, but if it was, so what? I get paid well enough to afford such things, but glad to see you’re so money oriented and saving for…………what is it you spend your money on exactly?

Whocares

Because we are rich. STFU

serg

rich people buy quality things not expensive icrap , do you think BMW is gonna use cheap soft metal to cut cost,NEVER but apple does and they will be always shiploads of fools that will fall cupertino tricks

Ujwal Kidambi

Let me tell you that the price difference between m8 and 6 isnt much

serg

most people have a life so cheap so they need a expensive gadget to feel they do exist ,aleluya jobs saved millons from suicide now a tiny slab will keep them alive

Harry_Wild

Because it make you a “big shot”! It looks great to have it and use it! People will talk with you if they see you have the latest iPhone since they have one too! Especially ladies! It takes a lot of pressure off arranging first dates for yourself too! It a conversation breaker in other words. Ladies like to talk and they have a common interest! Otherwise; they just keep silent and you are the interloper and they just brush you off most of the time! iPhone is key to meeting ladies!

Ray C

I think the HTC Phone is worth a look, though I’ve been very disappointed in the way they’ve handled themselves until recently

snazzily

How long until Google wallet runs on the new iPhone. I love just being able to pay with my phone

James T Kirk

How long until Google Wallet is usable in the US in the first place.

snazzily

Probably about two years ago. I’ve use it quite regularly. Some of the US carriers decided they didn’t want the devices on their networks to be able to access it for a while. I rarely have to pull out my wallet to pay for anything.

Shalashaska

This article is irrelevant, you’re comparing old tech with new tech. Do this review again when the new Android phones come out (which I know you will regardless of my comment lol). Not flaming, just making an observation.

anihilist

If he were to wait until the next iteration of the HTC One were to come out, these iPhones will be 6 months old (coincidentally the same age as the current M8).

He’s obviously trying to compare the best premium-grade Android phone to the iPhone and I think he did a solid job overall.

jbo5112

What about something like the LG G3 LTE-A? It’s already out on the market. There are also Android-only features like waterproofing (Galaxy S5), voice activation (Note 3, S5, Moto X), widgets, dual apps on screen, or interface buttons (e.g. back. menu, etc.), UHD video (Note 3, S5), expandable storage, and often remarkably better battery life (up to 26hrs video playback on a stock device, Note 3 can do 45+ hrs w/ aftermarket battery), which no reviewer ever seems to consider. However, if any single item is ever missing from Android, then iPhone fanboys will pick on it relentlessly. This didn’t even mention features enabled by the M8’s second rear camera.

anihilist

Android and Apple are at parity in build quality and features. If it weren’t for the HTC One, I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying that, as no other phone can match the specs AND build quality of the One. The One is a truly beautiful phone, but after 7 years of flirting with iOS, I think I’m going to make the iPhone 6 (4.7″) my next purchase (currently sporting the M7 variant HTC One).

Great post, btw.

http://www.mrseb.co.uk/ Sebastian Anthony

Thanks!

Funnily enough, it’s the iPhone 6 Plus that most intrigues me (I have the One M8, so I think the straight iPhone 6 might not be a significant upgrade).

Good luck with the iPhone 6. Let me know how you get on :)

David Onter

Sony Xperia Z2/Z3?

tommydokc

I would bet your obvious fanboi passionate speculations here are all adding up to a mostly over hyped bleh phone. 64 bit. cool but so what? the next gens of everyones phones will have them. right now there’s nothing that utilizes it. And 1gb ram! that’s hilarious. what, did we travel back in time? The phone does not look better than the M8 in no way shape or form except to the isheep. to beat the M8 on battery life would be phenomaly hard and I would lay bets it won’t even be close if history is any indication. apple hasn’t innovated, they’re playing catch up and they’re losing.

James T Kirk

No app needs more then .5 gbs of ram unless you are using a skin i.e. Touchpiss which needs 2gbs itself to make sure it can actually run semi smoothly.

Ujwal Kidambi

you are a big tubelight. apple bet that piece of shit of yours with the 5s itself

Huffalup

the iphone6 is an ugly imitation of the M8, even the aluminum body with the same lines HTC used. And whats with the big ugly button on the iphone? and the lack of speakers? its just another pooy boring iphone…Apple is dead

John

If apple is dead then samsungs website would be down and people would be talking about the Samsung convention……….. oh wait haha

Huffalup

Samsung supporters aren’t moronic enough to line up and treat the latest phone release as though it were a religious event.
Apple is no better than the crook thief evangelists pumping the religious up to believe something amazing is going to happen at the convention center….might be even worse than them actually….but both are selling garbage

Ujwal Kidambi

Bullshit. android and its line of phones came from apple itself. they copied the idea. if apple is dead, android wasnt even born idiot

Don Jackson II

Why don’t any of these bogus comparison mention Boom Sound? Heads and shoulders what the single speaker on the back of an iPhone can put out.

Romdude

It’s a fair review, thanks for being as objective as you can. Iphones do really well with less ram as its optimized and custom built for iOS whereas android has to run on a variety of hardware and specs. Since I really like my android customization that make my phone (htc one m7) perfect for me, there is no chance I’d buy an iphone but I love watching new product launches. As for watches, all the first gen watches aren’t good enough, they really gotta use e-ink, better battery technology and better ease of use, I’m hoping for a better second and third gen before I ever pull the trigger on one. HTC should just remake the m7 with a better camera with ois and more ultrapixels, micro sd expansion and replaceable battery and I’d be all over it. Here’s hoping for the HTC One m9.

Ash A

Very good points – I agree with a lot of what you are saying, coming from an iPhone user. I am also interested in the development of the smartwaches and wonder if they’ll spread to the mass market or will remain the domain of tech lovers. I am hoping that HTC get in on the smartwatch arena too as their design philosophy is very good if their mobile handsets are anything to go by.

Lemons

So much guessing and conjecture…how about…next time…you actually wait until you have all the phones you’re testing…you know…so you can actually TEST THEM. What a crap article.

Ash A

I think the aritcle has done a great job in general. It’s always hard to compare iPhones with Android ones due to the fact that they largely have 6months of distance between them in terms of release cycles so it can always call up the “but the next device..” argument. Also, the fact that iPhones are optimised to work at lower clocked speeds makes a standard spec-for-spec analysis somewhat difficult and as a long-time iPhone user, I can honestly say I haven’t experienced lags, glitches or poor performance despite heavy usage of the most intensive apps and premium games. The user experience is ultimately what matters and iPhone users are generally highly satisfied.

Of course the High spec Android phones like the M8, z2/3, Galaxy S phones etc are all extremely good phones and one just needs to see the hot debates amongst android users that there is divided opinion amongst android handsets as to which is the best in terms of build, specs, performance etc. The iPhone amongst that mix will probably encounter the same arguments and then some (owing to the Apple v Android rivalry).

In the end though, they’ll all perform superbly, their designs will all appeal and unappeal to some and ultimately iOS v Android will always rage on but users and their usage patterns will most likely dictate who goes for what,

I am excited about the new iPhone and really want to try out the 6L to see if it’s size is practical for me considering it is thin, it may be okay but will have to test it first. Either way, I am going to get the 6 or 6L.

I love my iPhones but am not a fanboy etc. Samsung users love their Galaxies and M8 users likewise and Z2/3, LG users ditto. Why should that mean people are fanboys? I really hope people can just respect others’ choices without second-guessing or assuming their reasons to be nothing more than blind and wanton spending of money.

Economy-wise, the iPhone has always offered similar price ranges and the fact that they hold their value and can offset sell-on prices against future models means that they are not as grotesquely inflated as some would have them perceived.

Personally, I think the HTC M8 is the marquee product for Android and the iPhone 6/L is the latest marquee for Apple. I am not likely to go buy an Android phone because I have heavily invested in my iPhones. Of course I can be honest enough to appreciate some fantastic things in handsets like the M8 and others. I don’t need to reject the very core of a competitor just because there is intense rivalry between the companies and their user-base.

Romdude

My sentiments echo yours. Competition is good for all of us anyway in the same way the carriers are getting spurred on by t-mobile and lately by sprint. I do like the iphone build and the lack of lag and therefore good performance, but you already know in my other post the reasons for me keeping my htc one m7. Actually even in the HTC camp, some of us still prefer the M7 to the M8, I’ll be waiting for the M9 and if it still not to my liking, I might get the new Moto X because of its specialty cores where one is low power and always listening to commands, it’s just so useful in driving.

No competition here. note 4 beats iphone 6 by a mile when u compare their specs
but if u ask me what i want to buy, then i will probably go for iphone 6.
and i don’t know why..

worldbfree4me

Easy on the Eyes is the iPhone6’s calling card, but IMO durability will be an iSSUE for the iPHONE! One drop to the floor and the best case scenario one could hope for is altered aesthetics to the back or screen. Worse case Kaput!! I hope that the 3rd party bumpers are up to the task, because my guess is that even 1080P-less variant will retail for no less than $800 US. Also look for insurance coverage prices on these two mobiles to increase, not to mention an increase in thefts. Good day

Kwuarter

Honestly this seems to be a bit of an unfair match just buy and large. HTC One M8 and M7 both have their own little features that, I feel, make them stand out from the smartphone market alone. You won’t see any other smartphone that has a blinkfeed and front facing speakers. Is the processor lacking a bit? Yes, but I don’t think the main concern is whether Angry Birds HD will be able to play on your phone or not.

David Onter

The M8 also works great with Asphalt 8, Modern Combat 4&5 and anything else you’ll find. It has one of the fastest processors available for Android devices .-.

Benjamin Jason LaLonde

I’d still keep my LG G2 over any of these phones. Only thing I’d trade it in for is the LG G3. SD card, replaceable battery, better screen, thin, ingenious back buttons, etc. The only people who compare other phones are those who have never used the LG G2 & G3. :)

David Onter

LG G3’s screen is meh. Natural color reproduction is not that good, overheating and stuff :/

Right Wired

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

Ujwal Kidambi

Better than the old boss

iFone

“There is an updated M8 “motion coprocessor” in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, too, which presumably reduces sensor power consumption — but I’m sure the HTC One M8 has some coprocessors as well (they’re just not marketed as such).”

You have never used a m8. If you had you would know that it has fully implemented nfc payment capabilities via Google wallet. You also completely left out its out of the box fitbit implementation with its already built in sensors. No wrist band required. If you are going to compare devices you should at least read all the manufacturers marketing material before you write it.

James T Kirk

Not in the US it isn’t. Google kowtowed to the carriers and borked Wallet down. Not used anyplace by anyone. Hopefully it will work now that Apple got the banks, credit cards and stores behind their system.

snazzily

Wallet is up and running, not sure what you’re talking about. I use it quite often.

massau

personally the 2 mm difference in phone thickness sound more like a placebo effect then a real difference. people just cannot really sense 2 mm thickness except if it is side by side but this 2mm thickness could give more battery or better protection of the phone internals. most people (>80%) use a cover so there smart phones will be thicker when used.

http://www.mrseb.co.uk/ Sebastian Anthony

Eh, 2mm is quite a lot. I mean, the other way of looking at it: At what point does a phone go from being thin to being fat? 11mm? 13mm?

Don’t forget that the joint between your thumb and palm, and the various other dimensions of your hand (knuckles, fingers) aren’t all that big. I bet a 7mm phone can feel a lot thinner than a 9mm phone. But it also depends on balance, how the edges are machined, etc.

massau

i personally think the edge shape and corner shaping is much more important. if the edges are rounded then the phone can be much thicker without really feeling thick.

also the bezel shape make a big difference if the screen is positioned to high or low it will feel your phone is to large.

to bad there are no real research papers on phone ergonomics. my guess in 10 years a lot of people will have complications with there hands.

Ujwal Kidambi

they can retard

massau

the overall phone shape will have a bigger impact onto the feeling then just the thickness. and please stay civil instead of starting calling me names.

Ujwal Kidambi

That 2mm is a lot compared to the width of the phone which is extremely small. And I dont understand why Android fanboys fail to accept that the iPhone wins over their Android phones by a clear margin. If this is a useless difference of width, then every Android feature that the HTC has is useless

massau

i said overall shape e.g. a rounded back, the diameter of the corner rounding and the rounding of the edges. these combined give the feeling of the phone while the thickness is just a small overall difference.

i do not want to sound like a troll but how can you clame apple has the best phone when there iphone 6+ can be bent? while this could have been avoided by making it a little stronger and thus heavier, use plastic instead of aluminum or a bit ticker.

The battery comparison was ridiculous. Apple doesn’t promise 11 hours of LTE browsing or any of those figures. They say up to 11 hours. Key words are “up to,” which could mean 4 hours of real life use, or even 1 hour. We really don’t know. Since the numbers are so similar to the numbers of the 5S, I would think it’s fair to assume the battery of the iPhone 6 is comparable to the 5S.

Barry gunning

Well i must admit from the first side on pictures of the iphone 6 i thought that it looked very very similar to my HTC one m8 .. over the years these phones are getting thinner to the point that they have to be in a case to use them or they slip out of your hand so regardless of how nice they feel they will be in a case as soon as they are out of the box because no one wants to scratch or break there new aluminium phone, Now with the dot view case i personally (plus everyone who have seen it in action) think its amazing it makes you want to put your phone safe inside so we will have to see what cases come along for Apple which will also serve as a great addition like the M8 dot view, on a personal level i just think that the iphones are so basic that they were designed for children.

ianthetechman

This is the first time I am really pissed off with all the iPhone coverage its way way too much and the hype is totally unreal.

deskjob

Sebastian, overall I think you did a good job breaking down and comparing the differences among the three phones. However, with all due respect, I can’t help but detect a very subtle bias against the HTC One M8. A couple examples:

1. Regarding the display, it sounded a little bit like you were attempting to downplay the iPhone’s lower pixel density. “In terms of pure pixel density, the HTC One M8 probably has the better display.” That’s not “probably” but should be definitely – the One M8 has a higher pure pixel density than even the Iphone 6+. Your reasoning of Apple’s need to differentiate spec-wise between 6 and 6+, while plausible, doesn’t take away from the fact that the M8 has the best screen out of the three in terms of pure pixel density.

2. Regarding the battery – I know it’s not officially confirmed, but the iPhone 6 appears to most likely carry a 1810mah battery, while the 6+ gets a 2900 mah cell. iPhones have generally carried a noticeably smaller battery and relies on great software optimization from Apple to achieve comparable battery life with the Android counterparts (which is great), and the 6’s 1810 mah cell looks to be pretty legit. Still, that’s significantly smaller than either the HTC One M8’s 2600mah. You failed to mention any of this, while describing the M8’s battery as “farily small”. Yet you then describe Samsung’s S5 as haivng a “big” 2800mah battery. In terms of pure mah, that’s only a 7.7% increase over the HTC One M8. And the countless battery life tests between the S5 and One have shown that the two are very comparable – in fact the S5 tends to have slightly worse battery life than the M8 due to its TouchWiz custom UI overhead. And in any case, 2800mah is not considered “big” in android world – the LG G2 has 3000mah, the Moto Maxx series are in the 3500mah class, etc.

Obviously these points are not equal in weight (iOS apps alone are a major factor), but still I’m leaning towards Z3C. Will wait for iPhone reviews.

Romdude

If you ever do get an android instead of an iphone, check out mycolorscreen.com and look up a theme you like or just install themer app (it’s free) and let it install the themes for you. There are many nice launchers out there although google’s own gogle experience launcher is pretty nice. I’d go to a store and play around with them, that’s what I do till I’m totally sure of which one I want. If it doesn’t come with extreme power saving mode, just install an app called auto data, it turns of your data if your screen is off but turns it on every 15 minutes so you can receive updates. It sounds promising.

Blob

not sure if anyone else has covered off on this, the 6.9mm thickness for the new Iphone 6 is that inclusive of the protruding camera or does the camera make that part of the camera thicker? I find it interesting because all the side shots of the Iphone 6 show it with no protruding camera.

Paul Cena

I will go for a iphone 6 plus

MarcB1969

I’ll stick with my iPhone 5 until it no longer cuts the mustard. Both iPhones 6 models are larger than I prefer for comfortable front pocket storage.

Harry_Wild

I getting the iPhone 6 as soon as the unlocked models become available! I think I will have to stand in line before the store opens like last time to get it! Of course, I can wait till next year too – February is dead time for Apple sales. But I willing to take a day off and get up at 4:00 A.M. and get to the Apple store at 7:00 A.M. and take to those resellers and hear their shop talk until 9:00 A.M. They always offer you deal since they are first in line and do not have to go through the usually sales practices; since they buy from Apple on a daily basis! LOL! If a reseller make $100 from you; they are happy fro a 2 minute transaction! They even have a portable card reader and everything kind of like Apple!

Brendan Gweilo Knoble

I own a m8 i phone is blowing smoke up Apple lovers arse lol the 32 gig m8 is the fastest phone on the market it’s running a quad dual 801 snapdraggon processor and of you know how to unlock the developer mode which I phone don’t have its even faster then out if the box I have mine rooted and unlocked my brother just literally threw his I phone away and got a m8 after he seen what mine did and he’s had I phones for the past 8 years and as far as the camera I take pictures all the time high or low light never blurry I have videos of my kids on fair rides in motion not blurry plus Apple finally let I phone have freedom from I tunes for downloads lol they’ll be working the bugs out on that one for a while us android users had that freedom since the beginning lol not to mention or m8 update comes out soon which is gonna be ridiculous it pretty much like PlayStation and x box except the fact that PlayStation and x box use the exact same internals but why would they tell the public that lol HTC m8 is also some what water resistant don’t take those iPhone 6’s near water lol

Sam_88

Last line ‘…but unless you specifically want
the Note for its stylus and other interesting features, I have a
feeling that the iPhone 6 Plus, with its iPad Mini-like tweaks, will be a
pleasure to use.’

Poor writing there. To review something and mention another phone that isn’t released yet, and to finish on the argument dispite the Note, the iPhone 6 & Plus will be a pleasure to use’ is just annoyingly inept.

squiddybiker

I have the HTC One M8 now. I did have an iPhone 5 before this. I will say that Android OS has a lot more bugs and weird quirks than iOS. I miss the ease of managing music through iTunes. You can still use iTunes + Doubletwist to sync playlists onto the HTC, but it’s just not as streamlined. Picture quality on the iPhone is also much better than the HTC. Battery life on the M8 is great with power savings mode on. Display is also beautiful on the M8. It depends on what you’re using your phone for, but if Music and Pics are important, I would encourage you to get the iPhone. If you want customization and better hardware, go HTC or Samsung.

KG

I had this exact choice today, I would have had to wait a week or two for the iPhone 6, but that didn’t factor in. my last phone was the iPhone 5 standard. I hated it! Too slim/small, hated the keyboard, always wished it was a tad wider .. I had the iPhone 4 before it and loved it. It was just right. I think they messed the iphone 5 up. I have an ipad, so I’ll still have iOS … and have already updated that to iOS8 – but on the ‘smart’ phone front, I’m going with the HTC for a change. It just looks so good, and does everything I need it to. I don’t care one bit about the camera, which makes the decision much easier, I think too many people get way too hung up on that. Just ask yourself, how many shots do you actually take with your phone? And how many do you ever print large? I’m guessing most will not print at all, and their pic’s merely go to social networking sites. This is why the MP count on phone cams does NOT matter. I’m a photographer, I have a full frame sensor 36mp dslr for high res images that I can print billboard size if ever needed! The crappy sensors on any of these phones matter not.

Ujwal Kidambi

One thing I have noticed in Android fans:
They like hardware more than software

Paul

So, were do we stand now that we have the actual device in our hands? I for one love the new design, but was kinda disappointed that the battery life did not meet predictions. In actual testing, the 6 is about the same as the 5s, and the 6 Plus is better than the M8. A couple of drawbacks that I noticed is that video playback is not as sharp on the iPhone. The conversion though iTunes produces a file that is lower resolution, but less compressed than the original, even though the phone will play 720p fine. I still can’t get used to watching a movie with sound coming out of one side and annoying the person next to you. I find myself switching to the HTC for the better sound and sharper image. My 3 year old will watch an entire movie on the HTC, but gets bored watching the same movie on the iPhone after about 20 minutes. Speaking of sound; why was this completely skipped in the review? It’s rather important for any games played in landscape mode with on-screen controls. In practice, my right hand completely muffles the sound and I have to intentionally hold that hand in an un-natural position to hear the sound properly. Not fun when you are in the later levels of Leo’s Fortune and you have saw blades coming at you and need the audio cues to set the rhythm, lol. In these situations, I’ll switch to the HTC as well.
I will say that the A8 Processor is nice, making easy work of anything. The iPhone 5 always seemed sluggish compared to even to an HTC One mini with Sense 6 on it. In conclusion, Apple did a good job on the design, despite whipping up a marketing frenzy and setting expectations higher than they really were. I love the way the glass curves off to the sides (brilliant and sexy), and the thinness. Disappointments are the camera wart on the 6, the screen not being sapphire even though they sent one to tech reviewer MKBHD, and the battery life of the 6.

DR E XXXXX

There is one thing that this review left out and it’s very important. The HTC M8 will soon be getting an upgrade to Android L; what this means is that the camera will be able to take RAW 16 bit uncompressed captures. Any of you who currently own a DSLR should know exactly what this means. It’s color reproduction and dynamic range will no longer be an issue. The captures will also be of a higher quality. Even now Android users can capture RAW images using a 3rd party hack. Images are less muddy looking than those from the iphone 6 due to the ipones 6’s Jpeg compression. Both look excellent tho. you would have to pixel peep to see it. Id say it’s a Draw with an edge going to the iphone for motion tracking that is ferociously countered by an edge going to the HTC M8 for having a 5MP selfie camera as well as the ability to restore blown out highlights and it’s better low light capabilities which is really more of a product of it wider aperture than the larger pixels IMO.

bsr

Quite a fair review Sebastian. However I feel that you have overlooked a very important function, certainly one of the major aspects l look for in a phone: AUDIO.
Many people rely solely on their phone now rather than carrying around an ipod (or equivalent) as well. Also with bigger and more vibrant screens it does mean that sharing video with friends is more common, rather than just listening privately on earphones.
Audio quality – and loudness, both via earphones and external speaker(s) is something that should be compared in a detailed review like this.
That Apple lag behind here is brought into focus when you pitch it alongside the HTC one M8.
I haven’t heard audio on the new iPhone but the fact that Apple think a sideways firing speaker on the bottom of the phone will enhance watching media on the lovely iPhone screen seems to demonstrate their missing a trick. Watching media on the M8 or its predecessor is an outstanding experience. Front facing speakers delivering loud and undistorted audio with a surprising range, is something that sets a benchmark – that the iPhone 6 woefully falls short on. I hate the name they have given them, but HTCs Boomsound speakers are outstanding and really deserved a mention in your review.

Anto de Chav

I use an M8 but what makes iOS so good is the slick operating system and eco system..

Xventure TV

HTC has never been good with cameras. Everything else about the phone is perfect. Also, the iPhone 6 design is great with a surprisingly good camera, other than that, Apple has failed to bring anything else to the table. It’s not bad, just not good. I wouldn’t buy it.

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